Decisions
by the alpha phoenix
Summary: Kari comes home upset and Tai's instincts to help her kick in. After finding out what she has done with TK, he helps Kari make an important decision and tells her how to deal with the consequences of it. Takari one-shot


**Decisions**

Hey everyone. I've been thinking about writing a Tai and Kari family one-shot for a while now and this is pretty much the only idea that is in my head for it. So I decided to write it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or anything else that is copyrighted in this story.

Summary: Kari comes home upset and Tai's instincts to help her kick in. After finding out what she has done with TK, he helps Kari make an important decision and tells her how to deal with the consequences of it. Kari/OC to Takari one-shot.

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Taichi Kamiya sat on the sofa in the living area of the Kamiya apartment, watching a thrilling football match between his favourite team, Kashiwa Reysol, and their rivals, Kawasaki Frontale. The eighteen year old was wearing the yellow shirt of Kashiwa with Kamiya and the number nine in black letters on the back. He was passionately yelling at the TV every time something didn't go the way he wanted it to. This was all that mattered to him at that moment.

Taichi, or Tai for short, was alone in the apartment, which meant he could scream his instructions at the TV as loud as he wanted. His father and mother had gone out for a Saturday evening meal together and his younger sister, Hikari, was around at her best friend's apartment. Tai was glad he was alone because the rest of his family would be telling him to shut up and calm down. That was something he couldn't do given the importance of the game.

He heard the apartment door open and then quietly close as someone came home. Tai turned around and saw his fifteen year old sister taking her shoes off. Despite her short brown hair covering her face, Tai could still sense that Hikari, or Kari as everyone called her, was upset about something. She just didn't have that radiance which she normally had.

"Hi Kari," Tai warmly greeted her as she placed her shoes on the rack and headed for her bedroom.

"Hey Tai," Kari mumbled as she quickly made her way to her room and shut the door behind her.

Tai's expression changed to one of concern as he returned his focus to the football match on the TV. He had clearly seen the expression on his sister's face as she had walked past him and into her room. There was definitely something bothering her and whatever it was had made her rather upset. He even thought he saw what might have been the remains of tears on her cheeks.

Reysol scored an important goal to take the lead in the match against their rivals but Tai didn't care now. His family and friends came first over everything else and right now something was wrong with his younger sister. She had been over at TK's, her best friend, and if he hadn't managed to sort out whatever was wrong then it must be something big. TK would normally be able to help Kari with all of her problems.

Tai sighed as he stood up and switched off the TV. His instincts had kicked in and he felt it was his duty as a big brother to help Kari. He walked to her bedroom and gently knocked on the door. There was no reply so he knocked again. Kari still didn't answer him so he knocked for a third time. Tai sighed again and decided to just enter his sister's room if she wasn't going to respond.

He opened the door and poked his head in. Tai's eyes locked on to his younger sister sitting on her bed in her soft pink sweater and stone washed blue jeans. She was staring at a photo in her left hand. Her thumb was gently stroking whoever was in the picture. The brunette girl was also running her right index finger across her lips and occasionally licking them like she was trying to get some remaining flavour off them.

Tai thought this was rather odd behaviour for Kari and he wanted to know what had happened. He stepped into his sister's room and shut the door behind him. Kari continued to gaze at the photo and didn't acknowledge him at all. Tai quickly surveyed the room, looking for a hint on what might be troubling his sister.

His gaze soon fixed on to a different photo that was discarded in the centre of the room. He strolled over to the image and glanced down at it. It was a picture of Kari and her boyfriend, Kiyoshi. This was definitely a clue that Tai needed to work out what was bothering Kari. She had been dating this boy out of her class at school for the past three months. Tai thought he was an ok guy and, from his impressions of him, thought he wouldn't do anything to hurt Kari. Obviously he was wrong.

Tai sat down next to his sister and placed his right hand on her shoulder. He spoke to her in a soft and caring tone. "What's the matter, Kari?"

"Oh, Tai, I didn't notice you coming into my room," Kari replied with a little surprise in her voice as she glanced up from the photograph in her hand. "It's nothing really."

The gaze of Kari's auburn eyes fixed back on to the picture frame in her left hand. Tai's gaze followed hers and found that the picture in her hand was of her and a certain blonde boy. Tai knew this blonde boy very well and considered him a good friend. The boy was the same age as Kari and she had just come from his apartment. It was a photo of her and TK.

Tai was only confused further by the photo in his sister's hand. He wondered if something had happened between TK and Kiyoshi. It would certainly split Kari's loyalties and make her upset. It would definitely explain why TK hadn't been able to cheer her up. Had he got another girlfriend? TK was single after splitting up with Haruka a few weeks back. Tai knew Kari was rather depressed when he began dating Haruka and Sakura before that and Misaki before her too.

The older Kamiya sibling decided to take a wild guess at what had happened to try and get some information so he could help his sister. "Has something happened between you and Kiyoshi?"

"No," Kari's eyes didn't leave the picture in the glass frame. "Yes. Kind of."

Tai furrowed his eyebrows at his sister's answer. It didn't really tell him anything and only confused him further. "Does it involve TK?"

Kari sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah, it does."

"What happened?" Tai sighed as well. He wasn't getting a lot of information out of his sister. He needed to know more so he could help her. "Did TK and Kiyoshi have a fight or something like that?"

"Not yet," the younger Kamiya responded with her emotional pain becoming clearer in her voice.

"Are they going to fight?" Tai asked as his concern grew. He was worried that Kari or TK might get hurt.

"Probably," Kari continued to only give her brother short answers.

"What happened? TK won't fight anyone without a good reason, which means this must be something big," Tai placed his arm around his sister's shoulders and brought her closer to him.

Kari sighed and glanced at her brother to respond. Her tone showed that she was extremely worried. "Promise me that you won't hurt either TK or Kiyoshi."

"I promise," Tai replied honestly. He wasn't sure if he could ever hurt TK and, by the sounds of things, hurting Kiyoshi would be a bad thing too.

Kari took a deep breath and readied herself. "I cheated on Kiyo. TK and I were alone in his apartment earlier and my feelings for him came out in one passionate flood that I couldn't hold back any longer."

A smile crept across Tai's lips. He was happy that Kari and TK had finally admitted to their love for one another. It was obvious that they liked each other and Tai couldn't say he was surprised that it had happened. He had completely forgotten about Kiyoshi and continued to think about how well suited his sister and TK were for one another. Tai's eyebrows then furrowed once more as he thought over his sister's choice of words. It implied something he didn't like ...

"You had sex with TK?" Tai's words were stern and his eyes clearly showed he was demanding an answer. On second thoughts, maybe he could hurt TK.

Kari's eyebrows furrowed too before she shook her head. "I've not had sex with anybody."

Tai let out a loud sigh of relief. He hated the idea of a guy being with his younger sister in that way. Well, maybe it would be alright if it was TK, but only when they were a year or two older. He'd have to give that a lot more thought later on to decide if he was ok or not with that idea.

"TK and I only kissed. We were messing around and our faces ended up really close and that was when both of us let our feelings take over. We started kissing passionately. I haven't felt anything like it before. It was so amazing. He said he loves me and I told him I love him too," Kari said as she stared at the picture of her and TK once more. "Things got really hot and we probably would have gone further if TK's mother hadn't come home."

Tai couldn't help but notice how disappointed Kari sounded at the end of that last sentence. Clearly she wanted to go further with TK and Tai realised he was probably going to have to keep an eye on them just to make sure they weren't doing anything stupid. TK was a smart boy and he deeply cared for Kari, which was a relief for Tai because he knew the blonde boy would probably be prepared if his emotions took over his actions again. Tai decided that he would have to teach TK a lesson if he wasn't being safe.

Tai suddenly realised that his sister was staring at him, waiting for a response to what she had just told him. "Then I can't see what the problem is. I'm happy you and TK are a couple."

"The problem is that I'm dating Kiyoshi!" Kari replied in an exasperated manner. Her eyes were wide open and she couldn't believe her brother had forgotten that.

"Oh, right. Yeah," Tai placed the palm of his left hand over his face. He was so happy Kari and TK had finally admitted their feelings to each other that he had forgotten that Kari already had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who's picture he had just seen discarded on the floor moments ago. "That is a problem. What are you going to do?"

Kari glanced back down at the photo in her hand and sighed. "I don't know. I love TK but I don't want to hurt Kiyo."

Tai moved his hand to his chin and stroked it as he thought. "You will have to pick one of them and soon. You will end up hurting both of them if you don't."

"I don't want to hurt TK," Kari stiffened at the thought. Her worry for her best friend was clear in her tone. "I told TK that I would end my relationship with Kiyoshi so I could be with him."

"It sounds and looks like you've already chosen TK over Kiyoshi," Tai squeezed Kari to let her know everything would be fine. "You and TK will make a great couple, Kari."

Tai was surprised that Kari's worry only seemed to deepen as she replied. "What happens if something goes wrong between me and TK? I'd lose my love and best friend."

"That won't ever happen," Tai chuckled and shook his head. His confidence was clear in his voice as he continued. "You and TK have practically been dating for ages. You and him do things together all the time. You go to the movies together, you go out for meals together and you go for walks together amongst other things. Nothing needs to change because they are essentially dates you're going on."

Kari smiled weakly as she listened to her brother's words. She relaxed a little and placed her left arm around Tai's back. She shifted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Tai nodded as a massive grin spread across his face. "You two are so close. You know that's the reason TK's ex-girlfriends have split up with him. They were all jealous of how close you are to him and how much time you spend with him. That clearly shows that TK is more interested in you than them."

Tai knew Kari had been in several arguments with TK's ex-girlfriends. They had all forced TK to choose between them and Kari and TK had gone with Kari every time. That had led to confrontations which never ended well.

Kari sighed and glanced over at the picture of Kiyoshi that she had thrown away on to her bedroom floor. "How am I going to explain this to Kiyo? I can't exactly tell him I'm now with TK."

"Yeah, that could cause all sorts of problems," Tai pursed his lips as he ran his left hand through his wild bushy hair. "You have to split up with him soon otherwise all the problems will be so much worse when you do split up with him."

"But how?" There was a hint of desperation in Kari's tone.

"You'll have to give him a good reason. Nothing like the 'it's not you, it's me' sort of stuff. That is a crappy reason and will only hurt him more," Tai paused and thought over it for a few seconds. "You could just give him a half truth."

"A half truth?" Kari asked, wanting her brother to continue. She glanced back up to him and met his gaze.

"Yeah, something like you haven't developed the feelings for him that would normally form in a relationship. If those feelings don't exist then there isn't any point in continuing the relationship because it will only hurt him more if his feelings continue to grow and you know yours won't," Tai noticed the concern returning to Kari's face as he spoke. She clearly didn't like his idea. Tai guessed he would have to help her understand. "It is technically the truth because your love for TK is a lot stronger than your feelings for Kiyoshi. It will hurt him but in the long run he will be thankful that you were at least honest with him."

"I want a way to split up with Kiyo that won't hurt him at all," Kari pursed her lips as she hoped her brother would come up with another solution.

"There isn't a way you can get out of this without hurting either TK or Kiyoshi," Tai decided to be bluntly honest with her. It was the only way she would understand. "You and TK will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. That means Kiyoshi will ended up hurt because you have already chosen TK over him."

Kari sighed and stared at the picture of her and TK again. "You're right, Tai. I'll do what you've suggested because it will be better for both Kiyo and me. This is only going to fuel all the rumours going around the school about me and TK. I'm going to be called all sorts of names for this."

"You don't have to go public about your relationship with TK straightaway," Tai was rather surprised that she was thinking of doing that. "You can keep it a secret for a few weeks. In fact it would be for the best if you don't want Kiyoshi to be upset."

"Yeah, you're right," Kari nodded. "This is going to be so difficult for me to get out of the mess I've created."

"Do what I suggested and you'll be fine in the end. You have to deal with the consequences of your actions as quickly as possible," Tai spelt it out for his sister. "Then your relationship with TK will be fine and both you and TK will so happy."

"I'll meet up with Kiyo tomorrow and tell him what you suggested I tell him," Kari said as she wrapped her other arm around her brother and pulled him into a hug. "Thanks Tai. Thanks for the advice."

"No problem. It's what big brothers are for," Tai smiled as he placed his other arm around her. The two siblings held each other closely. They were glad they could have moments like this together.

Kari's phone suddenly beeped, telling her that she had just received a message. The siblings broke the hug and smiled at each other before Kari opened her flip phone. A larger smile spread across her face as she read the message and Tai knew who it was from.

"What has TK said?" Tai asked out of curiosity and he tried to read what was on her phone screen.

"That he loves more than words can express and he can't stop thinking about me," Kari replied with her excitement creeping into her tone. "I love him so much."

"I'll let you have a bit of privacy so you can tell TK whatever you want," Tai stood up and ruffled Kari's hair. He made his way to the door and hoped that his sister could sort everything out over the next few days. Tai knew that Kari's decision to choose TK would be the right one in the long run because even he could see how perfect they were for one another.

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Well, what do you think? Are there any mistakes? I know it is a typical Tai and Kari family plot, but still ... was it any good? Please let me know by leaving a review below =D

As I'm publishing this one-shot a few days before Christmas, I'm going to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year =D


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